Last updated 10/21/07. Newest pics start on page 3.
The Ultimate Pontiac GTO
Picture Site by Sean Mattingly.
2007 Drive-In Movie Tour coverage Next tour date:
Spring, 2008- I'll post the 2008 schedule in the Spring
on Page 3
CLICK->Canary Creek Drive-In (Franklin, Indiana): On April 21, 2007 the first "good weather" stop on the Movie Tour was the Canary Creek Drive-In in Franklin, Indiana. Last year, I began a quest to visit all 21 of the operating drive-in movie theaters in the state of Indiana. In 2006, I did make it to 9 in Indiana and 1 in Michigan. Canary Creek has an indoor theater with 8 screens, plus this outdoor gravel lot with its own screen. This is the little ticket building at the entrance.
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It was a day of GTOs and movies. The first order of business for our fun-filled day was to get some people and cars rounded up. CLICK->
These are some of the many cars that were at the Dave Himes Automazing shop on the way to the movies. Dave has a shop in Westfield, Indiana. The Indy GTO Association was there. The weather was absolutely perfect, so there was a good turnout of cars in all colors and years. CLICK->
In the center is a 1966 GTO surrounded by red '68's. Many others showed up, filling up Dave's big side yard. CLICK->
We had nearly all years of GTOs represented in Dave's yard, from '64 on up. Many of these cars were fresh from their winter restorations, so the hoods were up to show off some shiny new hardware. CLICK->
Here is a red 1965 GTO parked at Dave Himes Automazing. Next to it are a couple of the many '68s that were there. CLICK->
Here is why they call Dave's shop "Automazing". One of his specialties is building Pontiac engines. He's got a bunch of lifts at his country shop which is behind his house. He's got an engine dyno. He has room to host a few car clubs at once for a technical seminar and cookout. I climbed up to the loft to get a shot of some of the lifts with cars in the air. In the foreground is a Buick GS of some sort. In the background is a super nice Chevelle that was getting some performance goodies installed. CLICK->
Here is "Mrs. UltimateGTO" in Dave's shop. She can change oil on a Vette and not get a drop on her. What a lady. Actually, there was no engine in that Vette. CLICK->
During the afternoon cookout, I spotted this interesting rod. You've heard of a crate motor. But have you heard of a car with two crate motors? ...and the crates included?!! CLICK->
Here is a close-up of one of the crates. That oversize wing nut cracks me up. The owner was quite a funny guy and this car was an expression of his sense of humor. CLICK->
Everyone was pointing and laughing at this. His speedometer goes from 0 MPH all the way to "DEAD". The dashboard (which really IS a board) also has some other items you shouldn't leave home without. See the toilet paper roll and some Mrs. Dash there? I'm sure he'd have a funny story to tell about those. CLICK->
Engine builder and performance expert Dave Himes stands next to a wipe-off board as he does a tech seminar for the members of the Indy GTO Association and the Hoosier Chevelle Club. He was explaining the recent changes that were made to motor oil to satisfy environmental concerns. The manufacturers have removed some of the critical elements for lubrication of our engines. People are just beginning to discover they've got serious engine troubles since oil companies have removed most zinc and moly and phosphorous from their oil formulations. Dave explains that it is a bad thing when they remove the slick stuff that cams and bearings need to operate smoothly. Many problems are now seen during the break-in period of newly rebuilt engines. Dave is recommending using the few brands of oils left on the market that still do have the zinc, moly, and phosphorus in them. CLICK->
Before heading off to the drive-in movie portion of the day, we checked out this pretty nice Judge clone. The young owner said he's had it for a year. CLICK->
Check out the engine compartment. Several members of the Indy GTO Association were looking the car over to try and determine if it was a real Judge. The VIN showed it was a GTO anyway. The engine, painted a '64-'66 color of blue, has no Ram Air equipment. The plastic grilles are a 1968 part. The trunk spoiler looked like the holes on the underside of the trunk lid were recently drilled. Still a nice car with a good looking body on it. CLICK->
With darkness approaching, we headed off to Franklin, Indiana to the Canary Creek movie complex. This view is of the main building. Canary Creek is unique in that they have indoor movies and an outdoor facility too. The indoor part is like any other modern movie complex you'd visit in a shopping center. Everything was up-to-date with a snack bar and some recent arcade games to play. PICTURE SET CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ...
Here's a comment from a recent visitor...
Says Jeff Fortenberry (jefff.@coherence.com) - "It's like a vault of GTO treasures, it's quite inspiring to see some of these beautiful cars."
